Gaelic football team Roger Casements have joined forces with Coventry Rugby Club in a move aimed at improving the profile of the game and increasing awareness of the sport within the city.

Casements will train at Coundon Road from December 29 with the possibility of playing matches there in the new season - and the partner-ship will continue when Coventry?s new stadium at the Butts is up and running.

The Gaelic football club has been based in Coventry and competing in the Warwickshire League since 1956, adding a women?s team six years ago, and their season runs from April to October.

Matches are played on Sunday afternoons, while younger age group sides play on Saturdays.

?Some of the youngsters will play matches at Coundon Road before our own league games,? said Coventry?s rugby administrator Ian Carvell.

?We?re delighted that Casements have accepted our offer to use the facilities, and looking ahead it is part of our plan to maximise use of the new stadium.?

From a team which six years ago contained only two English players, the majority of the current Casements squad were born in this country and the club has recognised the need to invest heavily in its age group development and to work alongside other sports to ensure that the game survives in Coventry.

Working with the East Midlands Schools Gaelic Athletic Association, the club has a number of coaches who will go into local primary schools and Cardinal Wiseman secondary school to coach and help form school teams.

It is then hoped to use Coundon Road as a centre of excellence on Friday nights, bringing together all the young players from the various schools in a club environment with the aim of developing under-10,12,14 and 16 sides for next season. Launched this year, Casements under-12s have already made a good start by winning the Birmingham Youth Festival tournament.

Casements have also received an Awards For All grant enabling them to purchase necessary equipment for the younger age groups.

The club currently trains and plays its matches in Holbrooks and at the Warwickshire headquarters, Parc Na Heirann, in Birmingham.

?The club has never had a fixed base to work out of before and this will give us the opportunity to establish ourselves at a well-known location,? said Casements spokesman Kieran Boyle.

?We hope Coventry?s support will enhance our development and allow Gaelic football to receive more coverage outside the Irish community as few people realise that a club exists in Coventry.?

Training for the under-10 to under-16 teams will be held on Friday nights at Coundon Road (6-7.30pm). Men?s and women?s training will be on Wednesdays (7.30pm) and Fridays (7pm).

All are welcome to come and try the game, and Boyle can be contacted on 07900 911947.

? ROGER CASEMENTS retained the Father Taffe Cup by beating Birmingham side John Mitchels 0-17 to 2-10 at Pairc Na Heirann in one of the most thrilling finals in years.

The Coventry team went into the game as slight underdogs but started brightly to open up a lead of 5-1 thanks to scores from Paul Houston (2) and Danny Scott (2) from mid-field and full forward Justin Webb.

A goal by Mitchels late in the half left Casements trailing by 1-6 to 0-7 at half-time and it could have been worse but for a superb double save from goalkeeper Peter Scott late in the half.

A number of positional changes by manager Paddy Hoey over the break seemed to work for Casements with points from DJ O?Hare (2) and Kieran Quirke (2) keeping them in touch.

Mitchels struck a blow by grabbing their second goal and the teams then exchanged scores to leave Case-ments trailing by five points, 2-9 to 0-11, with five minutes to go.

The Coventry side responded with five unanswered points from Houston (2) and new midfield partner Kieran Boyle(3), and as the game entered injury-time Danny Scott slotted over his third free to give Casements the lead for the first time since the 15th minute.

Remarkably, Mitchels went down the pitch from the kick out and grabbed an equalising point that seemed to be sending the game to a replay.

But Casements managed to win possession from the kick out and with the game entering the third minute of stoppage time, captain Boyle picked out Webb who, out on the wing, lost his marker before playing a ball across the goal to the waiting Quirke who elected to take the safe option from 10 yards out and drove the ball over the bar, despite the attention of three Mitchels defenders, to win the game with the last kick.